Several of The Lord Of The Rings stars attended the opening of the play "Blowing It" at Bats Theatre yesterday. The stars, including Wood, British actors Sir Ian McKellen and Bernard Hill, were invited by the play's director and co-writer Stephen Sinclair (this appears as the tailend of an Evening Post story on 'stuff' which basically rehashes yesterday's e!online report).

Sinclair is a scriptwriter on The Lord Of The Rings. He was involved in the beginning stages of the project, sketching out the bigger shapes of the story, according to people I've talked to. Since then he's written and produced a number of stage comedies that have toured NZ, and he's noted for his keen whit and sense of satire. Having somebody like him on the writing team almost guarantees that LOTR won't suffer from the kind of overblown, over-serious self-regard that has spoiled other fantasy movies in the past.

The Hall of Fire homepage has been restructured! Thanks to Mr. Everyready Bunny himself, Calisuri, you now have access to past chat logs with a pulldown menu. If you love to talk Tolkien you'll love The Hall of Fire, now featuring a second weekend time better suited to European schedules.

You can catch Brad Dourif (Grima Wormtongue) in 'Childs Play 2' on TMN.

You can see Sean Astin (Sam) in 'Kimberly' on Cinemax.

You can see Bernard Hill (Theoden) in 'The Bounty' on Cinemax.

If you're a fan of The Onion you know it provides a consistant and reliable daily dose of humor. Our own Pippin_Took spotted a Gollum-influenced bit here in today's issue (third bullet). Ach!!Ssssss...

This news has me more excited than the time I thought Ed McMahon and Dick Clark were on my porch (turned out to be encyclopedia salesmen). Hugo Weaving (Elrond) WILL be in the Matrix sequel! Agent Smith rides again!

From: Pieman

I was watching Access Hollywood today, and Keanu Reaves was being interviewed, and mentioned that Hugo Weaving is in the upcoming movie, Matrix 2, so looks like he coming back!

You can catch Brad Dourif (Grima Wormtongue) in 'Child's Play' on TMN.

You can catch Hugo Weaving (Elrond) in 'Bedrooms & Hallways' on Cinemax.

Well, if you're in NZ, that is. This rather sketchy message came in to say that a signed copy of LOTR is being auctioned in Wellington's Civic Square at 12 noon on Wednesday, August 2. It's part of a film documentary on NZ entrpreneurs. Hmm, they should look into the LOTR numberplates racket, says I.

Anyway, for further info, phone them up on their mobile. I guess they want us to post this or they wouldn't have sent it: 021 132 3253

A new month means a fresh update at E!Online. Check out a great interview with Sean Astin and some other goodies here. Thanks to Gamgee for the tip!

Some additional news concerning Sean Astin's daughter Alexandra's involvement in LOTR, with pics!! [More]

!!!Spoilers!!!

The Ian McKellen (Gandalf) Website McKellen.com has updated his 'e-post' section. Check out our wizards Q & A session:

Q: Do you choose roles based on the previous work of the director?

A: It is reassuring to have seen a director's previous films but a good working relationship will depend on a mutual respect and ability to communicate. [More]

You can catch Hugo Weaving (Elrond) in 'The Matrix' on Cinemax.

Ringer Spy Gorondir sends in the latest UK coverage of LOTR! [More]

!!!Spoilers!!!

Still a mystery, but it looks closer to being complete. New photos from the Wingate set on The Realm of the Ring

And here are some that appear to be from the production itself, outlining the constructions in the Dry Creek quarry that make up Helm's Deep.
(more)

Here comes the latest from the Hall of Fire topic think tank:

Music and Middle-earth

From its creation down to the last chapter of Middle-earth's history, music is a powerful and significant presence in the writing of J.R.R. Tolkien. Music and song is a common theme not only to the passage of time in Arda, but also to all the peoples of Middle-earth. We find singing orcs, hobbits, dwarves, goblins, ents, elves, humans, gods, and demi-gods. I'll wager Sauron himself hummed a dark ditty as he crafted the One Ring at Mount Doom.

What does Tolkien achieve and evoke with all of this music and song? How is music used as metaphore, image, emotion, magic, or even substance? What resonnates with you and the music of Middle-earth?

Warm up those fingers and vocal cords and come join the throng. This chat is scheduled for Saturday, July 29, at 5:30 p.m. EDT [10:30 p.m. GMT]. If this time doesn't work for you, come to our European-time session, which is on Sunday, July 30, at 6:00 p.m. GMT [7:00 p.m. Central Europe Time and 1:00 p.m. EDT].

Ringer fan GordoSan sent us this tip:

"I'm not sure if you guys have posted this yet. I just recently got my Official Dreamcast Magazine in the mail and I found an insert for a new movie magazine. Its called Total MOVIE and like the ODCM, every bi-monthly issue comes with a demo disc. Only here its a DVD and not a 1Gig game CD. The discs contain trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and such. Well the premier issue shown, states that the Lord of the Rings trailer is indeed on it. I could not find a link to the new mag from Imagine's web site, so I guess you must subscribe through another mag or buy it at the newsstand."

Geez, where can I get one!! I will try to get more info as this story breaks.

Thanks GordoSan!

If that recent UK Sunday Times silliness left you wanting more laughs, head over to the Tolkien Sarcasm Page for the source of the text itself, and a trove of other ticklish Tolkienisms. And for those of you lucky enough to live in the Minneapolis area, check out this live theatrical comic brew of Tolkien, Star Wars, and Shakespeare!

Send us your Middle-earth funnies here.

We now know the actor who will play the Elf King of Lindon! [More]

They better include this in the 'The Making Of....' movie, because it's got all the ingredients of a thriller. We SERIOUSLY underestimated the gravity of these thefts. 90 minutes of footage? $180,000? That's US$90,000, still a huge figure. Wellington's Evening Post scooped the story and you can link to it in "stuff"

Earlier in the week, I mentioned I would try to put together a montage of different people's feelings and takes on the Lord of the Rings Featurette shown at Comic-Con 2000. I have finally done so and you can see it here.

!!!SPOILERS!!!

You can catch Sean Bean (Boromir) in 'Airborne' on TMN. [More]

You can see Liv Tyler (Arwen) in 'Cookies Fortune' on TMN. [More]

You can catch Elijah Wood (Frodo) in 'Deep Impact' on TMN. [More]